From Silent Film to YouTube: Musical Identity, Music Copyright, and Film Music Eleanor Selfridge-Field CCARH, Stanford University esfield@stanford.edu

Eleanor Selfridge-Field Overview Musical ontologies Fixed form in a digital environment Using copyrighted works Film music as intellectual property Cases and claims 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Eleanor Selfridge-Field Musical Ontologies 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Eleanor Selfridge-Field Types of digitization Sound content (audio, MIDI) Graphical content (scores) Symbolic data (various) Sound “Logical work” Notation 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Unique features of each domain Sound Sound domain Timbre Tempo Graphics domain Layout Gestural information Logical domain accent If film, synchronization domain -time values for coordinating music with video “Logical work” Notation 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Practical aspects of digitalization Time: Operas and oratorios (2-/3-hour works) take about 6 months to encode, proofread, lay out, and print. Allowable uses: safest sources are Out-of-copyright material New editions Source material: scarce Copland: Of Mice and Men 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Fixed Form in a Digital Environment 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

(Musical) Copyright concepts 1909: US Copyright Act adopted Provides protection based on concept of fixed form Grew out of legacy control of the dissemination of printed material made from printing plates Belonged in 16th century to printers’ guilds Rights drift, by assignment, to publishers Analogues to print receive coverage Piano rolls, recordings, and films G. Henle Verlag 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Eleanor Selfridge-Field Copyright Aims What does copyright promote? Creativity What does copyright protect? Right to reproduce work What does copyright require? A fixed registered instantiation of the work 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Data varies across domains Entity: the US Identity #1: The atmospheric nitrogen map of the US Identity #2: The ground nitrogen map of the US 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

The Great web of Content and its Rights The Protected Film ….. Synchronization rights (may belong to music publisher) Media used in distribution Publicaton Recording Distribution Radio (from 1909) Sheet music Piano rolls Recordings 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

New informational content Sound (moving) Images (moving) Synchronization information 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Eleanor Selfridge-Field Film as a container Sound information Graphical information Symbolic content information Container information (Smiraglia et al.) 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Eleanor Selfridge-Field Art of the Container Music liberates time. Container freezes time. Art of the performance. Art of the container Photo © 2002 John Storey. Permission pending. (Sarah Hughes, 2002 Olympics) 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Synchronization as container art Casablanca (1942) Max Steiner, Warner Bros. With songs by M.K. Jerome (d. 1977) and Jack Scholl (1988) as well as “Die Wacht am Rhein”; The Marseilles; music by I. Jones, 1924, and many others “As time goes by,” Herman Hupfeld, 1931 (#1) Hollywood polyphony (#2) 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Using Copyrighted Works 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Eleanor Selfridge-Field Lack of Clarification Case law (US) only occasionally touches film music Film music is normally the property of the film producer 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Duration of Copyright (US) Print legislation models to be observed Duration pre-1998 (excluding many complexities) 1923-49: 28 plus max 28 years = 56 years (now 95 years) 1950-63: 28 plus 67 years = 95 years 1964-77: renewal automatic; thus 95 years Pre-1978, never published: expired in 2002 1978 to present: expires in 2047 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Factors complicating Duration Multiple authors Neighboring rights (multiple countries involved) Mixed material Transfer of rights 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Eleanor Selfridge-Field YouTube and copyright How not to infringe …It is illegal even if Do something completely original Use only your own creations If you do not have the owner’s permission, don’t post it…. You taped it from a broadcast You only used a little bit You credited the creator You edited your video 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

YouTube holdings statistics (2/20/09) Studios represented Film music composers represented 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Film Music as Intellectual Property 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

When/How was the music composed? Commissioned by film producer (work made for hire) Previously extant (newly arranged) Synthesized (or electro-acoustic) Retrospective (esp. silent films) Pastiche of previously existed works 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Previously extant/public domain music “Out-of-Copyright” Music Many Disney cartoons, e.g. Fantasia (1940) credits J.S. Bach (d. 1750, Germany) Tchaikovsky (d. 1893, Russia) Paul Dukas (d. 1935, France) Igor Stravinsky (d. 1971, USA); Rite of Spring 1913 (full score, Paris 1921) L. v Beethoven (d. 1827, Austria) Ponchielli (d. 1886, Italy) Mussourgsky (d. 1881, Russia) Schubert (d. 1828, Austria) The “Sorcercer’s Apprentice” scene (Dukas) 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Previously composed “Film” Music In-copyright music (not always credited) Other Disney cartoons Bambi (1942) “Love is a song that never ends ” [by Frank Churchill ; d. 1942] and 12 other songs” © Wonderland Music Co. 1953/1978 Additional works by others found in later revised versions of film Churchill not credited for music in 25 other films for which he wrote music; see posthumous credits in ASCAP database (300 songs credited to him) Bambi history: US releases, 1942 and after Elsewhere, 45 releases through 1987 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Electro-acoustic film music An early film-music generator …As used in Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963) Oskar Sala’s Trautonium Bernard Hermann a customary collaborator 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Electronically enhanced film music Synthetic Voices As in Farinelli (Belgium, 1994) Simulation of castrato achieved by blending male countertenor and female voices Derek Lee Ragin Ewa Małas-Godlewska “Lascia ch’io pianga” from Handel’s Rinaldo (1711) 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Retrospective FiLM music Carl Davis: Ben Hur Score by Miklos Rozsa (d. 1995), 1959 Score by Carl Davis, 1987 Silent film (1925) Score by William Axt (d. 1959), 1931 (recent realization by Gillian Anderson) 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Live music realization for silent films Stanford Theater Foundation Improvised organ music from cue sheets: Dennis James et al. 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Eleanor Selfridge-Field Cases and claims 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Eleanor Selfridge-Field Derivative work claim Rights Recapture It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) Frank Capra (d. 1991), producer RKO-Liberty studio Music by Dimitri Tiomkin (d. 1979), except “Buffalo Girls” Copyright not renewed after 28 years 1974-1993: in public domain 1993 claim (rested on 1991 decision by Supreme Court) Claimed by Republic Pictures because the underlying story was still protected. Rights now held by Paramount The Alamo (1960) 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Retrospective music plus transfer New score—late Sixties The work can only be screened with the new score. Film (1928)/silent Rights = $1800/Eastman House 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Eleanor Selfridge-Field Forced choice of music Napoleon (1927) Original production: Paris Music by Alfred Honegger (d. 1955) 1981 restoration of original UK: new music by Carl Davis US: new music by Francis Ford and Carmine Coppola (d. 1991) Only the Coppola version can be screened in the US. 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Eleanor Selfridge-Field Pastiche sound tracks American Graffiti (1973) Lucasfilm 55 pre-existing numbers: “I only have eyes for you” (Flamingos, 1959) “Why do fools fall in love?” Frankie Lymon (1956) “The Great Pretender” (Platters, 1959) Cost of all rights: $80,000 Musical supervision by Karin Green Excluded Elvis Presley Later excluded: “She’s so fine” (Chiffons, 1964; successfully sued Beatles for “My sweet Lord” melody) 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Fixed FORM VS Fluid Content Copyists Autograph MS Composer Sources Editor(s) “Music consists only of sound…but sound is its least stable element.” Margaret Bent (1992) Published edition Edition Performers Recording Film music Broadcast DVD of Film Ontological problem: What is a musical work? 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field

Eleanor Selfridge-Field Colliding Claims Unnamed, Undated (PBS) Unnamed (1996) Music: Composers A and B Music: Composer X Composer(s) living Documentary film ? Commissioned score Commercial film (similar subject) Commissioned score Heim vs. Universal Pictures (1946) Dvorak: Humoresque (1894) 2016 Eleanor Selfridge-Field